Implementation of a web-based educational tool for digital signal processing teaching using the technological acceptance model

This paper presents an exploratory study about the improvement and validation of a Web-based educational tool. The tool, designed with Shockwave and Macromedia Director, is used as a teaching methodology in an undergraduate course using modern microprocessors, architectures, and applications. An information system theory, called the Technological Acceptance Model (TAM), has been applied to detect both the use of the tool and the external variables that have a significant influence over it. The obtained results illustrate the strengths and weaknesses to be reinforced and have been taken into account to implement the final version of the tool. The proposed method may be extended to similar tools and experiments to fill the lack of scientific studies in the validation and acceptance of computer-based educational tool

Using Veterans’ Technical Skills in an Engineering Laboratory

After years of dissatisfaction with student knowledge and ability to use electrical test and measurement equipment (T&ME), a veteran with significant expertise using this equipment was placed in a Circuit Analysis Lab. This paper reports on this trial and its assessment results. Based on the overwhelming success of this program, this one-semester trial was extended for a second semester

A digital signal processing teaching methodology using concept-mapping techniques

The main goal of this study is to develop a scientific method for designing a teaching methodology used in a basic digital signal processing (DSP) course. The proposed method is based on concept-mapping techniques, which applies multivariate statistic analysis to summarize the experience and knowledge of teachers involved in basic DSP teaching. As a result, a set of teaching methodologies is obtained. This result, as well as other information obtained related to the relative importance of the concepts to be covered, has been used to program the course. Moreover, different teaching tools have been developed to implement the proposed teaching methodology. Finally, the reliability of the method has been compared with similar studies to validate the proposed methodolog

Integrated system-level design in electrical engineering

Journal ArticleThis paper describes an NSF-sponsored department level curriculum reform project in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of Utah. The project focuses on developing system-level design projects (mostly labs, but a few software-only projects) that integrate ideas within a class, between classes, and in some cases between disciplines. Written and oral communication is also stressed throughout this program. Materials are available for use by other educators via the PI (Furse) or the website

Analysis of utility and use of a web-based tool for digital signal processing teaching by means of a technological acceptance model

This paper presents an exploratory study about the development of a structural and measurement model for the technological acceptance (TAM) of a web-based educational tool. The aim consists of measuring not only the use of this tool, but also the external variables with a significant influence in its use for planning future improvements. The tool, designed with Shockwavee and Macromedia Directore, is a web-based educational environment that has been applied as a teaching methodology in an undergraduate course involved with modern microprocessors architectures and applications. The proposed methodology may be extensible to similar tools and tries to fill the lack of scientific studies in the validation and acceptance of computer-based educational tool

Patterns of Learning Object Reuse in the Connexions Repository

Doctoral Dissertation abstract: Since the term learning object was first published, there has been either an explicit or implicit expectation of reuse. There has also been a lot of speculation about why learning objects are, or are not, reused. This study quantitatively examined the actual amount and type of learning object use, to include reuse, modification, and translation, within a single open educational resource repositoryâConnexions. The results indicate that about a quarter of used objects are subsequently reused, modified, or translated. While these results are repository specific, they represent an important first step in providing an empirical evaluation of the frequency and some reasons for reuse, as well as establishing metrics and terminology for future studies

Integrating Robotics into First-Year Experience Courses

Robotics are a popular component of many introductory engineering and computer science courses. At Southern Adventist University, the School of Computing faculty decided to integrate robotics into a discipline-specific section of the University’s first-year experience course. The integration of robotics into a first-year experience course has created a hands-on introduction to college life within the Computing discipline while introducing students to the problem-solving process. This paper will introduce a very low-cost robotic platform kit ($50-75) that has been developed for the first-year experience course. Student assessment data from the first offering of this course with the SouthernBot 2.0 kit shows that overall, students were engaged in the open-ended design projects completed during the building of the robot platform

Video and image systems engineering education for the 21st century

Includes bibliographical references.We are developing a new graduate program at Purdue in Video and Image Systems Engineering (VISE). The project is comprised of three parts: a new curriculum centered around a degree option in VISE to be earned as part of the Masters or Ph.D. degrees; a state-of-the-art lecture/laboratory facility for instruction, laboratory experiments, and project and homework activities in VISE courses; and enhancement of existing courses and development of new courses in the VISE area.Supported by an Image Systems Engineering Grant from Hewlett-Packard Company

Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) Programs: Multidisciplinary Projects with Homes in Any Discipline

A survey of papers in the ASEE Multidisciplinary Engineering Division over the last three years shows three main areas of emphasis: individual courses; profiles of specific projects; and capstone design courses. However, propagating multidisciplinary education across the vast majority of disciplines offered at educational institutions with varying missions requires models that are independent of the disciplines, programs, and institutions in which they were originally conceived. Further, models that can propagate must be cost effective, scalable, and engage and benefit participating faculty. Since 2015, a consortium of twenty-four institutions has come together around one such model, the Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) Program. VIP unites undergraduate education and faculty research in a team-based context, with students earning academic credits toward their degrees, and faculty and graduate students benefitting from the design/discovery efforts of their multidisciplinary teams. VIP integrates rich student learning experiences with faculty research, transforming both contexts for undergraduate learning and concepts of faculty research as isolated from undergraduate teaching. It provides a rich, cost-effective, scalable, and sustainable model for multidisciplinary project-based learning. (1) It is rich because students participate multiple years as they progress through their curriculum; (2) It is cost-effective since students earn academic credit instead of stipends; (3) It is scalable because faculty can work with teams of students instead of individual undergraduate research fellows, and typical teams consist of fifteen or more students from different disciplines; (4) It is sustainable because faculty benefit from the research and design efforts of their teams, with teams becoming integral parts of their research. While VIP programs share key elements, approaches and implementations vary by institution. This paper shows how the VIP model works across sixteen different institutions with different missions, sizes, and student profiles. The sixteen institutions represent new and long-established VIP programs, varying levels of research activity, two Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI), and two international universities1. Theses sixteen profiles illustrate adaptability of the VIP model across different academic settings